Great Expectations to close earlier than planned

GREAT Expectations, which was originally booking at the Vaudeville Theatre until June 1, 2013, will now complete its run on March 30, 2013.

On behalf of the production company Beckman Unicorn, Bruce Athol MacKinnon said:

“It is with great sadness that Great Expectations has closed earlier than planned. The current financial climate has made producing independently in the commercial sector even harder despite our 90% audience approval rating.

“The critically acclaimed National Tour in Autumn 2012 allowed the full-scale production to be seen by audiences from Southampton to Aberdeen, and the arrival of Great Expectations in the West End for the first time as a full-length play, and at the culmination of the Dickens bi-centenary celebrations, was achieved only with the extraordinary support of a group of private investors – none of whom had previously invested in theatre.

“The production continues its reach with over 780 screenings across the United States from March 21, allowing a new audience to engage with the West End experience. Beyond that, we distribute to Hong Kong, Croatia, South Africa, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Germany”.

Previously Posted: Scottish playwright Jo Clifford’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, which toured the UK earlier this year, is transferring to the West End – to the Vaudeville Theatre, where it runs from February 6 (previews from February 1) to June 1, 2013.

Director Graham McLaren’s production brings some of literature’s most memorable characters to life – the beautiful but chilling Estella; the terrifying convict Magwitch; the manipulative Jaggers; the tragic and mysterious Miss Havisham; and Pip looking back on his young self – a boy with ‘great expectations’.

Reprising their roles in the West End are Jack Ellis (Coronation Street, Where the Heart Is, Bad Girls) as Jaggers, Chris Ellison (The Bill) as Magwitch, and Paul Nivison as the Adult Pip, with Paula Wilcox (Emmerdale, The Smoking Room, Man About the House) as Miss Havisham.

Great Expections has set design by Robin Peoples, costume design by Annie Gosney and Graham McLaren, lighting by Kai Fischer, original score by Simon Slater and sound by Matt McKenzie. Estella’s couture design is by Giovanni Bedin for House of Worth.

Great Expectations is presented as part of the international Dickens bicentenary celebrations.

Uncle Vanya continues at the Vaudeville Theatre until January 26, 2013.